Hitler is a pretty hard sell in almost any situation. For Taika Waititi, following up Thor: Ragnarok with a film in which he plays an imaginary version of the Fascist dictator, the challenge wasn't just getting audiences to buy into a comedy about the Third Reich, but also walking onto set in the guise of the former Führer.
"I was just sort of embarrassed," he tells us in the new January issue of Empire. "That's the main thing. I was embarrassed all the time to look like that. Going on set, I'd say, 'Look, sorry everyone.' It felt like it was hard for it not to be gratuitous. You start asking yourself why you're really doing it: 'Why am I dressed like this?'"
Jojo Rabbit sees Roman Griffin Davis as the titular Jojo, a young boy in the Hitler Youth who discovers his mother (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding a Jewish girl (Thomasin McKenzie) in the attic. Jojo does what any young Nazi would do and seeks guidance from his imaginary friend: a goofy Hitler-alike, pictured below sitting down to dinner with him and his mother and about to tuck into a meat unicorn (because of course).
Read more about Jojo Rabbit in the new issue of Empire, on sale now with three collectible covers.